£1m LEP investment to bring clean growth to the Isles of Scilly

The Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise
Partnership (LEP) is investing £1 million to bring low carbon technologies and
clean growth to the Isles of Scilly.

The LEP’s investment, confirmed today during a LEP Board
meeting on the islands, is part of a package of funding towards the delivery of
the Smart Islands project which aims to transform the islands’ infrastructure,
including the creation of a local energy market.

The LEP is investing £606,000 in 10 new electric vehicles,
10 solar canopies and 25 chargers, some of which will have vehicle-to-grid
technology. This means electricity stored in vehicle batteries can be used to balance
the local grid on the islands and power peoples’ homes if required.

The vehicles will be available to island residents on a
pooled basis via a new community interest company that has been set up to share
the benefits of Smart Islands with the community. Three vehicles will be
deployed initially next spring for testing, followed by a full roll-out in
2020.

The LEP is also investing £390,000 to provide grants helping
up to 50 island businesses to install low carbon technologies including solar
power, energy management systems and more efficient lighting & heating.

Minister for Local Growth,
Jake Berry MP, said: “This Government is
committed to boosting economic growth across the whole of the UK and building a
Britain fit for the future, including rural economies. Through this £1 million
investment from the Local Growth Fund, we are supporting the LEP to deliver the
Smart Islands package in the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly LEP.

“The Smart Islands
initiative shows that green innovation is not confined to big cities, and
proudly demonstrates how the UK continues to lead the way in maximising low
carbon technologies.”

LEP Chief Executive
Glenn Caplin said: “Smart Islands is pioneering new ways to show how a
community can embrace technology to move towards a sustainable and low carbon
economy. Clean growth is one of the Government’s ‘Grand Challenges’ in its
Industrial Strategy and we think the Isles of Scilly can demonstrate a groundbreaking
model that is scalable to other parts of the UK.”

Smart Islands is
one of just a handful of national case studies highlighted in the UK’s
Industrial Strategy. The LEP’s investment is from the Government’s Local Growth
Fund, which is investing over £70m through the ‘Growth Deal’ programme to
improve infrastructure and grow the economy of Cornwall and the Isles of
Scilly.

The LEP has now
formally signed two contracts with the Council of the Isles of Scilly to
deliver the electric vehicle and low carbon business grant elements of the
Smart Islands project. Its investment complements an £11m investment in Smart
Islands from the European Regional Development Fund.

Lady Marian Berkeley, lead member for Smart
Islands on the Council of the Isles of Scilly said: “The consequences of climate change such as changing weather
patterns, rising sea levels and coastal erosion and will have a significant
impact on the Isles of Scilly. The LEP investment into the Smart Island
Programme supports not only our intention to become a low carbon, sustainable
destination but also the technical innovation that could effect change on a
larger scale, allowing future generations to remain on the islands”.

Smart Islands will deliver an ‘Internet of Things’ platform that will
monitor energy loads in houses, businesses, electric vehicles and other
connected infrastructure to optimise local energy use.

Its goal is to provide 40 per cent of electricity demand using
renewables, to cut electricity bills by 40 per cent, and for 40 per cent of vehicles
on the islands to be electric or low-carbon – all by 2025.

It also aims to
provide waste disposal and energy from waste facilities to replace outdated and
expensive systems which are burdening the islands with significant costs and
hindering future growth ambitions. A feasibility study into a new waste to energy
plant is due to complete by the end of the year.

Smart Islands is
being delivered through a partnership that includes Hitachi Europe Ltd, Tresco
Estate, the Council of the Isles of Scilly, the Islands’ Partnership, Wildlife
Trust and the Duchy of Cornwall, with UK smart energy businesses, Moixa
Technology and PassivSystems, as project partners.